Organization and Management of MAS Practice

I. Staff Pyramid and Fee Structure

A simple approach in STAFFING a consulting practice is to break the practice into pyramids of from 5 to
15 people.

A graphic depiction of the consulting pyramid is shown below:

LEVEL
1 1 Partner, Principal, Director
2 1-3 Senior Managers, Managers, Supervisors
3 Senior Consultant, Senior
2
1-5
4 2-6 Associate Consultant, Staff
2

LEVEL 1 Partner, Principal, Director

 normally responsible for the successful completion of engagement, dealing directly with clients
and for selling work

Principal activities include the ff:

 performing practice planning
 administering and developing practice
 consulting with top client managers
 approving engagement reports
 managing client crises

LEVEL 2 Senior Managers, Managers, Supervisors

 perform week-to week management of the engagements and are responsible for identifying
new client prospects and assisting in the sales process

Principal activities include the ff:

 planning engagements, evaluating consultants, supervising consultants
 writing proposals, reviewing working papers and reports
 consulting with client managers
 serves as expert in one or more applied knowledge areas

A firm that intends to recruit a manager will probably seek the following attributes:
 previous successful consulting experience
 previous successful middle and top management experience
  specialized or advanced knowledge in major areas where the recruiting firm’s practice
has identified needs

LEVEL 3 Senior Consultants, Seniors

 typically have 2 or 3 years of consulting experience and are capable of supervising the daily work
of the younger staff

 possess the right combination of experience and dedication to complete different projects with
limited supervision

LEVEL 4 Associate Consultants, Staff

 usually have less than 2 years of consulting experience and may have been hired directly out of
graduate or undergraduate school

II. Billing Rates

A graphic depiction of the consulting pyramid is shown below:

LEVEL
1 ₱ 10k – 20k per hour
2 ₱ 8k - 10k per hour
3 ₱ 5k – 8k per hour
2

4 ₱ 2k – 5k per hour
2

III. Defining the Target Level of Competence of Management Consultants

CONSULTING COMPETENCE - ability of a consultant to deliver specific agreed-upon consulting services to

a client on a profitable time-and-fee basis observing professional standards

Factors that must be considered:

1. Scope of Practice Area

A consultant who desires to grow should take the following steps:

a) Review the economic region in which the consulting firm draws or expects to draw, most of its clients.

b) Inventory the services required by the existing client and others that the consultant would like to add.

c) Select services from this inventory that will be provided.

d) Acquire the competence needed to provide the selected services .

e) Notify clients and potential clients that the consulting firm is able and willing to perform the selected
advisory and consulting services.

2. Service Variety

a) Planning, control and reporting system.

b) Operational computer system analysis, design, implementation and evaluation.

c) Specialized technical services such as:

 Advice on new laws

 Entering international markets or keeping abreast of new economic or
technical development
 Specific services such as acquisition, mergers, divestitures, economic
and feasibility studies, management audits, market analysis

3. Client Requirements

In reviewing client requirement, the consultant may assess the following questions:

a) Will a fully implemented service be turned over to the client ready for use?

b) Will the service require changes or adaptation?

c) Does the client belong to an industry with special characteristics or problems?

d) Does the client have special financial or growth problems?

4. Service Delivery Capability

DELIVERY CAPABILITY- application of consulting skill and without this, even high
levels of knowledge and understanding cannot be put to effective use for clients

In delivery services, the consultant undergoes the following phases:

PHASE 1 Setting objective, Identifying problems and needed services, Predicting specific
expected benefits from these services, Gathering essential facts pertaining to the problem,
Delivering services

PHASE 2 Adapting and beginning the services that are to be the principal deliverables
from the Engagement

PHASE 3 Implementing these services to the client’s satisfaction

PHASE 4 Evaluating the results in operation